The initial response of the British media to 9/11 alternative theories was an attempt to understand them, which often turned to ridicule. “Why we need conspiracy theories” was published by the BBC just two weeks after 9/11. It explains them as a necessary sociological phenomenon - a subject worthy of academic debate, but not journalistic investigation. The ridicule is evidenced by the opening paragraph, which reads, “The moon landing was faked, Princess Diana was murdered and JFK was the victim of an elaborate CIA assassination plot.”
The alternative theories discussed are that CNN stirred up, “anti-Arab sentiment by running "fake footage" of Palestinians cheering over the attacks on the US”, that “Israelis working in the World Trade Center left the building shortly before the attacks” and that “Ariel Sharon is said to have cancelled a visit that would have placed him in New York on 11 September.”
The article ignores the main claims of alternative theorists – that the US government was behind the attacks - but instead concentrates on peripheral alternative theories which suggest that Israel was responsible.
The reporter then effectively ignores these theories with the simple sentence, “The theories are unsourced, unfounded and untrue” whilst offering minimal background information as to how these theories arose. (Wikipedia / US Government)
David Icke
The initial ridicule was ratcheted up in a September 30, 2001 Observer article which referenced the doyen of British alternative theorists, former BBC sports journalist and “a son of the Godhead”, David Icke.
In, “More sex please, we're terrified” columnist Lauren Booth recalls her encounter with a “middle-aged colonial matriarch” in Kenya who handed her a printout , “off the internet” and “penned by David Icke.”
She recounts Icke’s specific theories such as, “a plot by 'global centralised fascism' to advance its agenda of world domination with a single, powerful act of mass murder”, “numerology…11 September, we are told, is just 911, the US code symbolising 'emergency'” and “reptiles and an alien race plotting to take over the world.”
This article does not recount any 9/11 alternative theories, but rather seeks to ridicule them by associating them with even more outrageous alternative theories, espoused by one of the most famous and iconic alternative theorists in Britain.
2002 - Thierry Meyssan & the Pentagon
The alternative theories discussed are that CNN stirred up, “anti-Arab sentiment by running "fake footage" of Palestinians cheering over the attacks on the US”, that “Israelis working in the World Trade Center left the building shortly before the attacks” and that “Ariel Sharon is said to have cancelled a visit that would have placed him in New York on 11 September.”
The article ignores the main claims of alternative theorists – that the US government was behind the attacks - but instead concentrates on peripheral alternative theories which suggest that Israel was responsible.
The reporter then effectively ignores these theories with the simple sentence, “The theories are unsourced, unfounded and untrue” whilst offering minimal background information as to how these theories arose. (Wikipedia / US Government)
David Icke
The initial ridicule was ratcheted up in a September 30, 2001 Observer article which referenced the doyen of British alternative theorists, former BBC sports journalist and “a son of the Godhead”, David Icke.In, “More sex please, we're terrified” columnist Lauren Booth recalls her encounter with a “middle-aged colonial matriarch” in Kenya who handed her a printout , “off the internet” and “penned by David Icke.”
She recounts Icke’s specific theories such as, “a plot by 'global centralised fascism' to advance its agenda of world domination with a single, powerful act of mass murder”, “numerology…11 September, we are told, is just 911, the US code symbolising 'emergency'” and “reptiles and an alien race plotting to take over the world.”
This article does not recount any 9/11 alternative theories, but rather seeks to ridicule them by associating them with even more outrageous alternative theories, espoused by one of the most famous and iconic alternative theorists in Britain.
2002 - Thierry Meyssan & the Pentagon
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